Guangzhou, Nov. 12: India’s ace rifle shooter Gagan Narang on Friday became the fifth marksman to carry the national flag at the opening ceremony of a mega event like the Asian Games.
Gagan was elated with the honour. Narang won four gold medals during last month’s Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. “It is a great honour to carry the national flag. It is a great feeling and I hope to live up to the expectations in the Asian Games,” he said.
India’s only individual Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra had carried the national flag at the opening ceremony of the Oct 3-14 Commonwealth Games.
Since the 1982 Asian Games, Indian shooters have been flag-bearers in different multi-event extravaganzas. The late Karni Singh, a silver medallist in the World Championships, was the flag-bearer at the 1982 Asian Games. World champion pistol shooter Jaspal Rana carried the Indian flag at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur. Athens Olympics silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore carried the flag at the 2006 Melbourne Games and at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.